Melvins

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Hometown: Montesano, WA (USA)

About:

The Melvins are an American band that formed in 1983. They usually perform as a trio, but in recent years have performed as a four piece with two drummers. Since 1984, singer and guitarist Buzz Osborne (also known as King Buzzo) and drummer Dale Crover have been the band's ongoing members. The band was named after a supervisor at a Thriftway in Montesano, Washington, where Osborne also worked as a clerk. "Melvin" was despised by other employees, and the band's members felt it to be an appropriately ridiculous name.[citation needed]

The Melvins' music is influenced by Black Flag's mix of punk and metal on their My War and Slip It In albums, and other slow punk acts like Flipper and the Wipers, but also by hard rock and metal bands such as Kiss and Alice Cooper; however, their idiosyncratic approach, bizarre sense of humor, and experimentation make neat categorization difficult. Buzzo has also stated that his guitar playing is more influenced by Black Flag than Black Sabbath, with whom they are often compared.

At times they favor slow tempos, and their sludgy sound was a strong influence on grunge music, especially Nirvana, Soundgarden, Green River, and many other bands from Seattle. These bands, however, tended to use more conventional musical structures with this sound. The Melvins have also influenced many bands outside the Seattle grunge scene, including Tool (who are personal friends with the band), Boris (who took their name from the title of a Melvins song), Earth, Mastodon, Neurosis, Eyehategod, and Isis.

Mangled Demos From 1983 (2005)

Ipecac

Melvins

Houdini (1993)

Atlantic

Current Releases

Melvins

Electroretard [Reissue]

June 2, 2015

Interviews

Buzz Osborne (Melvins)

Monday, November 22, 2010 at 8:00 PM (EST)

Dale Crover (The Melvins)

Wednesday, August 22, 2012 at 8:00 PM (EDT)

Buzz Osborne (The Melvins)

Tuesday, June 3, 2014 at 8:00 PM (EDT)

Buzz Osborne on Melvins Collaborations

Monday, June 1, 2015 at 8:00 PM (EDT)

Related News

Tours: Melvins / Big Business (West Coast)
The Melvins and Big Business are going on a west coast tour, starting in late August. Notably, the version of the Melvins for this tour will be their "Big Melvins" incarnation, including Buzz Osborne, Dale Crover, Jared Warren and…July 30, 2015

Interviews: Buzz Osborne on Melvins Collaborations
The Melvins
do play well with others. Across a span of 24 studio albums, 12 EPs, 12 live albums, 68 singles (or so), the band has collaborated with more than 30 other musicians. In fact, their latest album,…June 01, 2015

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Interviews: Documentary about Melvins to be released
Hellsmore Media have announced that they have begun production on a documentary about The Melvins. The documentary will be called The Colossus of Destiny: A Melvins Tale, named after the Melvins LP, and it is being produced in conjunction with the band. The…April 07, 2015

Tours: Melvins / Le Butcherettes
Melvins and Le Butcherettes will be touring together this summer. The tour kicks off shortly before the band reissus their 2001 album Electroretard on June 2, 2015. It's out via…March 10, 2015

Tours: Full lineup for this year's Amnesia Rockfest announced
Billed as the largest rock festival in Canada, the lineup for the tenth anniversary edition of Amnesia Rockfest has been announced. The event, which will be held at the Montebello Marina in Quebec, is scheduled from June 18-21, 2015.
Joining headliners System Of A Down and Linkin Park will be The…February 12, 2015